Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel share stage at Barack Obama concert

Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel were due to share the stage together at a concert in New York to support Barack Obama.

Bruce Springsteen declared his support for the Illinois senator in AprilPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Tom Leonard in New York

11:47PM BST 16 Oct 2008

Mr Obama, who has claimed to have some Springsteen on his iPod along with the cellist Yo-Yo Ma and rapper Jay-Z, was expected to attend the fundraiser at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan.

It is the first time the two American singers have shared a stage together this century, and ticket prices were appropriately hefty, ranging from $500 to $10,000 for front-of-stage "lounge" seats.

The cheaper tickets sold out long ago and internet touts were demanding as much as $25,000 yesterday.

Springsteen declared his support for the Illinois senator in April when he announced on his website that he had "the depth, the reflectiveness and the resilience to be our next president. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years."

The backing of "The Boss" is no mean achievement as Springsteen is enormously popular among the white working class voters that both sides are trying to target in the election.

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He drew some 80,000 fans to a concert in Wisconsin for the Democrat contender John Kerry in the closing days of the 2004 campaign.

The Republicans have been rather less successful with rock musicians. A string of major acts including Jon Bon Jovi, Heart, Jackson Browne and the Foo Fighters have asked the party to stop using their tracks in the McCain presidential bid.